Changes

James King West (''Introduction to the Old Testament'', page 467) <ref>James King West, ''Introduction to the Old Testament''. Macmillan, 1981. 609 pages. ISBN 0024259209 ISBN 9780024259202.</ref> sees the story as told in the idiom of the Former Prophets and Chronicles (see 9:22 and 16:23 with 1 Kings 11 beginning verse 41) and as concerned principally with the war itself and the providential victories of the Jews.  Because the form is so similar, R. H. Pfeiffer conjectures that the author may have planned his book as a sequel to Chronicles-Ezra-Nehemiah.<ref>Pfeiffer, Charles F., ''Between the Testaments''. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1959. ISBN 10: 1584271043 ISBN 13: 9781584271048.</ref> There is no doubt that Judas is his hero, and that the book was written to show him as God's instrument to again bring deliverance to Israel. The author provides appropriate speeches and prayers to help interpret the story, to accent its important turns, to characterize the heroes. He presents copies of official documents affecting the course of his history. Their authenticity is a matter of dispute among scholars. West acknowledges that, although in the Second Book of Maccabees we have an alternate source for a considerable part of this history, 1 Maccabees is so basic to our knowledge of this period as to be indispensable, and even Josephus took it over as his main source for the period in his ''Antiquities of the Jews'' (XII, 5 to XIII, 7).

James King West (''Introduction to the Old Testament'', page 467) <ref>James King West, ''Introduction to the Old Testament''. Macmillan, 1981. 609 pages. ISBN 0024259209 ISBN 9780024259202.</ref> sees the story as told in the idiom of the Former Prophets and Chronicles (see 9:22 and 16:23 with 1 Kings 11 beginning verse 41) and as concerned principally with the war itself and the providential victories of the Jews.  Because the form is so similar, R. H. Pfeiffer conjectures that the author may have planned his book as a sequel to Chronicles-Ezra-Nehemiah.<ref>Pfeiffer, Charles F., ''Between the Testaments''. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1959. ISBN 10: 1584271043 ISBN 13: 9781584271048.</ref> There is no doubt that Judas is his hero, and that the book was written to show him as God's instrument to again bring deliverance to Israel. The author provides appropriate speeches and prayers to help interpret the story, to accent its important turns, to characterize the heroes. He presents copies of official documents affecting the course of his history. Their authenticity is a matter of dispute among scholars. West acknowledges that, although in the Second Book of Maccabees we have an alternate source for a considerable part of this history, 1 Maccabees is so basic to our knowledge of this period as to be indispensable, and even Josephus took it over as his main source for the period in his ''Antiquities of the Jews'' (XII, 5 to XIII, 7).

J. Alberto Soggin (''Introduction to the Old Testament'', page 466 <ref>J. Alberto Soggin, ''Introduction to the Old Testament''. Westminster John Knox Press, Jan 1, 1989. 644 pages. ISBN 9780664221560.</ref>) wrote that the author of 1 Maccabees is never mentioned, and whoever he was, he must have composed his text in the last years of John Hyrcanus I, certainly before Pompey's occupation of Jerusalem, sometime at the end of the second to the beginning of the first century B.C.. Soggin says he was apparently a Palestinian Jew who knew Hebrew and Aramaic well; it is unknown whether he knew Greek. The book shows him to be an ardent patriot, identifying religion with nation. He notes that the last chapters of the Hebrew-Aramaic version of the protocanonical book of Daniel are modest compared to the outstanding celebration of the action of the Maccabees. Soggin observes that the author seems to have had no close contact with the sect of the Pharisees, since he never speaks of resurrection or of the messianic hope, and speculates that he wanted to write a kind of unofficial history of his time glorifying the Maccabees. Yet he does not conceal some of Simon's misdeeds, the founder of the Hasmonean dynasty: only 14.4-48 and 15:15-24 give him unqualified praise. Soggin sees the author admiring those who have made a substantial contribution towards liberating his country from Syrian oppression, but also as trying to show that they were subordinate to an historically obscure institution he mentions on a number of occasions, which he calls 'the Great Synagogue' (3.44; 14:26-28): in the last analysis it is this which decides national policy and confirms Simon in his position.

J. Alberto Soggin (''Introduction to the Old Testament'', page 466 <ref>J. Alberto Soggin, ''Introduction to the Old Testament''. Westminster John Knox Press, Jan 1, 1989. 644 pages. ISBN 9780664221560.</ref>) wrote that the author of 1 Maccabees is never mentioned, and whoever he was, he must have composed his text in the last years of John Hyrcanus I, certainly before Pompey's occupation of Jerusalem, sometime at the end of the second to the beginning of the first century B.C.. Soggin says he was apparently a Palestinian Jew who knew Hebrew and Aramaic well; it is unknown whether he knew Greek. The book shows him to be an ardent patriot, identifying religion with nation. He notes that the last chapters of the Hebrew-Aramaic version of the [[Protocanonicals|protocanonical]] book of Daniel are modest compared to the outstanding celebration of the action of the Maccabees. Soggin observes that the author seems to have had no close contact with the sect of the Pharisees, since he never speaks of resurrection or of the messianic hope, and speculates that he wanted to write a kind of unofficial history of his time glorifying the Maccabees. Yet he does not conceal some of Simon's misdeeds, the founder of the Hasmonean dynasty: only 14.4-48 and 15:15-24 give him unqualified praise. Soggin sees the author admiring those who have made a substantial contribution towards liberating his country from Syrian oppression, but also as trying to show that they were subordinate to an historically obscure institution he mentions on a number of occasions, which he calls 'the Great Synagogue' (3.44; 14:26-28): in the last analysis it is this which decides national policy and confirms Simon in his position.

David A. deSilva (''Introducing the Apocrypha'', p. 248) <ref>David A. deSilva (Author), James Charlesworth (Foreword), Introducing the Apocrypha: Message, Context, and Significance. Baker Academic, November 1, 2004. ISBN-10: 0801031036 ISBN-13: 978-0801031038</ref> says that the book must have been written some time after the accession of John Hyrcanus in 134 B.C., since this is the last event related in the narrative. The author admires the Romans, and emphasizes the Jews' friendly relations with Rome and Rome's faithfulness as allies, which fact makes necessary a date of composition prior to 63 B.C. (he cites Oesterley 1913: 60; Goldstein 1976: 63; Fischer 1992: 441; Bartlett 1998: 34). He sees the narrated encomium of the achievements and character of the Romans earlier in 8:1-16 as contrasting sharply with later Jewish reflection on Roman conquest and rule as arrogance, insolence, and an affront against God. DeSilva points out that Pompey's entry into the holy places in 63 B.C. would have marred the author's unqualified appreciation of the Romans (he cites the comparable response of ''Psalms of Solomon'' 2; 8; 17 to that event). He observes that the conclusion to the whole work (16:23-24), while it does not necessitate a date of composition after the death of John Hyrcanus, is certainly more naturally taken that way, given that the author intentionally draws on parallels in the books of Samuel and Kings (citing Oesterley 1913: 60; Pfeiffer 1949: 301; Goldstein 1976: 63; Bartlett 1998: 33). DeSilva suggests therefore that it seems preferable to consider 1 Maccabees as having originated sometime after John Hyrcanus's death in 104 B.C. and before Roman intervention in the dispute between Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II in 63 B.C.

David A. deSilva (''Introducing the Apocrypha'', p. 248) <ref>David A. deSilva (Author), James Charlesworth (Foreword), Introducing the Apocrypha: Message, Context, and Significance. Baker Academic, November 1, 2004. ISBN-10: 0801031036 ISBN-13: 978-0801031038</ref> says that the book must have been written some time after the accession of John Hyrcanus in 134 B.C., since this is the last event related in the narrative. The author admires the Romans, and emphasizes the Jews' friendly relations with Rome and Rome's faithfulness as allies, which fact makes necessary a date of composition prior to 63 B.C. (he cites Oesterley 1913: 60; Goldstein 1976: 63; Fischer 1992: 441; Bartlett 1998: 34). He sees the narrated encomium of the achievements and character of the Romans earlier in 8:1-16 as contrasting sharply with later Jewish reflection on Roman conquest and rule as arrogance, insolence, and an affront against God. DeSilva points out that Pompey's entry into the holy places in 63 B.C. would have marred the author's unqualified appreciation of the Romans (he cites the comparable response of ''Psalms of Solomon'' 2; 8; 17 to that event). He observes that the conclusion to the whole work (16:23-24), while it does not necessitate a date of composition after the death of John Hyrcanus, is certainly more naturally taken that way, given that the author intentionally draws on parallels in the books of Samuel and Kings (citing Oesterley 1913: 60; Pfeiffer 1949: 301; Goldstein 1976: 63; Bartlett 1998: 33). DeSilva suggests therefore that it seems preferable to consider 1 Maccabees as having originated sometime after John Hyrcanus's death in 104 B.C. and before Roman intervention in the dispute between Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II in 63 B.C.